How the Moon Landing Led to Safer Food for Everyone

Post Reply New Topic

How the Moon Landing Led to Safer Food for Everyone
System created for Apollo astronaut food has become the global standard for hazard prevention
Originally published 11/23/2020

As many Americans prepare for a socially distanced Thanksgiving meal, some may be aware that NASA helped develop the tiny, highly efficient video cameras in the devices that will allow virtual family dinners, and a few may know it was the space agency that first modernized conference calling. But NASA has made an even more important contribution to the holiday: no one is likely to worry about the safety of the food on their table.

Today, outbreaks of food poisoning from packaged supermarket food are exceedingly rare, thanks in part to the food industry’s near-universal adoption of an approach that’s little-known outside the business, called the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. Even less-known is the fact that HACCP was created for astronaut food in the early days of the Apollo program.